Refrigerator

ABSTRACT

A refrigerator comprises a refrigerator body having a cooling chamber, a cooling chamber door configured to open and close the cooling chamber by sliding in back and forth directions of the refrigerator body, a drawer accommodated in the cooling chamber so as to be slidable, and a connecting member configured to connect the cooling chamber door and the drawer to each other. Accordingly, the drawer can be easily withdrawn.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in priorityKorean Application No. 10-2009-0067961, filed on Jul. 24, 2009, which isherein expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and particularly, to arefrigerator capable of withdrawing a drawer in an interworking mannerwith a door when the door is open.

2. Background of the Invention

Generally, a refrigerator is an apparatus for freshly storing food itemsin a cool or frozen state. The refrigerator comprises a refrigeratorbody having a plurality of cooling chambers therein, doors configured toopen and close the cooling chambers, and a refrigeration cycle apparatusconfigured to provide cool air to the cooling chambers.

The refrigeration cycle apparatus may be implemented as a vapor typerefrigeration cycle apparatus including a compressor configured tocompress a refrigerant, a condenser configured to condense therefrigerant by emitting heat, an expansion device configured to expandthe refrigerant by depressurization, and an evaporator configured toevaporate the refrigerant by absorbing peripheral latent heat.

The refrigerator body may be provided with a freezing chamber and arefrigerating chamber therein.

The refrigerator may be categorized into a top mount freezer that afreezing chamber and a refrigerating chamber arranged at upper and lowersides are partitioned from each other by a partition wall, and a bottomfreezer that a refrigerating chamber is disposed at an upper side of apartition wall and a freezing chamber is disposed at a lower side of thepartition wall.

Alternatively, the refrigerator may be implemented as a side by sidetype that a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber are partitionedfrom each other by a partition wall arranged in upper and lowerdirections.

The doors may be provided at the refrigerator body so as to open andclose the cooling chambers. Some of the doors may be hinge-coupled tothe refrigerator body, and others may be configured to be slidable inback and forth directions of the refrigerator body.

A drawer may be provided in the refrigerator body so as to utilize aninner space. The drawer may be configured to be slidable in back andforth directions of the refrigerator body.

However, the conventional refrigerator has the following problems.

Firstly, in order to accommodate or take food items (or other items)into/out of the drawer, a cooling chamber door has to be firstly opened,and then the drawer has to be withdrawn. This may cause a user'sinconvenience in using the drawer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide arefrigerator capable of easily withdrawing a drawer.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a refrigeratorcapable of interworking a drawer and a door only when necessary.

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purposeof the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein,there is provided a refrigerator, comprising: a refrigerator body havinga cooling chamber; a cooling chamber door configured to open and closethe cooling chamber by sliding in back and forth directions of therefrigerator body; a drawer accommodated in the cooling chamber so as tobe slidable; and a connecting member configured to connect the coolingchamber door and the drawer to each other.

The connecting member may be provided at one of the cooling chamber doorand the drawer.

The connecting member may be configured so as to be rotatable.

The connecting member may comprise a body, and a hooking portion formedat one end of the body.

The hooking portion may be formed to be bent at an end of the body.

The connecting member may be provided at the cooling chamber door.

An insertion portion configured to insert the hooking portion thereintomay be provided at the cooling chamber door.

The connecting member may be provided at the drawer.

The connecting member may comprise a body, and a hooking portion formedat an end of the body.

The hooking portion may be formed to be bent at an end of the body.

A contact portion contacting the hooking portion may be provided at thecooling chamber door.

The body may be detachably coupled to the drawer.

The drawer may be provided with wires, and the body may be provided witha wire coupling portion configured to elastically couple the wiresthereto.

The wire coupling portion may be configured to be elasticallytransformed, and a sectional surface thereof may be in a circular ringshape having one open side.

The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of thepresent invention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of the present invention when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention andtogether with the description serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of a freezing chamber door of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing main parts of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view showing an interworking state between the freezingchamber door and a drawer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a view showing a state that the freezing chamber door of FIG.1 has opened;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view showing main parts of arefrigerator according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a region of a connecting member of therefrigerator of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a view to explain the operation of a connecting member of FIG.7; and

FIG. 10 is a view showing a state that a freezing chamber door of FIG. 7has opened.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Description will now be given in detail of the present invention, withreference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, a refrigerator according to the present invention will beexplained in more detail.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator according to oneembodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of FIG.1, FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of a freezing chamber door of FIG.1, FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing main parts of FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is aview showing an interworking state between the freezing chamber door anda drawer of FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a view showing a state that thefreezing chamber door of FIG. 1 has opened.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a refrigerator comprises: a refrigerator body110 having a cooling chamber; a cooling chamber door configured to openand close the cooling chamber by sliding in back and forth directions ofthe refrigerator body 110; a drawer 160 accommodated in the coolingchamber so as to be slidable; and a connecting member 170 configured toconnect the cooling chamber door and the drawer 160 to each other.

The cooling chamber may totally indicate a freezing chamber, arefrigerating chamber, etc. The refrigerator body 110 may be providedwith one of the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber, and maybe provided with a refrigeration cycle configured to cool the coolingchamber. The refrigeration cycle may include a compressor configured tocompress a refrigerant, a condenser configured to condense therefrigerant by emitting heat, an expansion device configured to expandthe refrigerant by depressurization, and an evaporator configured toevaporate the refrigerant by absorbing peripheral latent heat.

The refrigerator body 110 may include a refrigerating chamber 130 and afreezing chamber 140 disposed in upper and lower directions,respectively, based on a partition wall 120 horizontally disposed.Refrigerating chamber doors 135 configured to open and close therefrigerating chamber 130 may be provided at a front surface of therefrigerating chamber 130. The refrigerating chamber doors 135 may behinge-coupled to the refrigerator body 110. The refrigerating chamberdoors 135 may be implemented in one pair in number.

A freezing chamber door 145 configured to open and close the freezingcamber 140 may be provided at the freezing chamber 140. The freezingchamber door 145 may be configured to open and close the freezingchamber 140 by sliding in back and forth directions of the refrigeratorbody 110.

Rails 149 configured to slidably supporting the freezing chamber door145 may be provided at both sides of the freezing chamber door 145. Therails 149 may be formed so as to be contracted or extended in alengthwise direction.

At a rear surface of the freezing chamber door 145, may be provided agasket 146 contacting edges of a front opening of the freezing chamber140 and configured to prevent leakage of cool air.

An accommodation portion 147 configured to accommodate food itemstherein may be provided at a rear surface of the freezing chamber door145. The accommodation portion 147 may be integrally formed with thefreezing chamber door 145. The accommodation portion 147 may be formedto have a height lower than that of the freezing chamber 140. A drawer160 may be provided at an inner upper region of the freezing chamber 140so as to be withdrawn in back and forth directions.

The drawer 160 may be formed in an upwardly-opened box shape, and may beconfigured to have a width in right and left directions corresponding toa width of the freezing chamber 140 in right and left directions.Sliding supporting portions 163 configured to slidably support thedrawer 160 may be provided at both side walls of the freezing chamber140. In the preferred embodiment, the sliding supporting portions 163are implemented as rails 163. Alternatively, the sliding supportingportions 163 may be implemented by providing a roller (not shown) at thedrawer 160, and by providing a roller supporting portion configured tosupport motion of the roller, at side walls of the freezing chamber 140and/or an upper end of the accommodation portion 147.

The connecting member 170 configured to slide the freezing chamber door145 and the drawer 160 in an interworking manner with each other may beprovided between the freezing chamber door 145 and the drawer 160. Moreconcretely, when the freezing chamber door 145 is withdrawn, the drawer160 may be pulled by the connecting member 170 to be withdrawn togetherwith the freezing chamber door 145. Accordingly, the freezing chamberdoor 145 and the drawer 160 may be simultaneously opened by oneoperation to open the freezing chamber door 145.

The connecting member 170 may be provided at the freezing chamber door145.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the connecting member 170 may include a body171 having one end connected to the freezing chamber door 145, and ahooking portion 181 formed to be bent at another end of the body 171.

The body 171 may be formed in a rectangular plate shape. A hinge pin 175may be provided at one end of the body 171. The hinge pin 175 may beimplemented in plurality in number. Each of the hinge pins 175 may haveone end connected to the body 171, and another end formed to be bent.

The connecting member 170 may be coupled to an upper central part of arear surface of the freezing chamber door 145. A connecting membersupporting portion 151 configured to rotatably support the connectingmember 170 may be formed at the freezing chamber door 145. Theconnecting member supporting portion 151 may be provided with hinge pinholes 152 formed at both ends thereof so as to rotatably insert thehinge pins 175 thereinto.

The connecting member 170 may be coupled to the connecting membersupporting portion 151 so that the hooking portion 181 can be toward thelower side when the body 171 is horizontally arranged. Since the hookingportion 181 is arranged so as to contact a rear side of a front surfaceof the drawer 160, the hooking portion 181 forwardly pulls the frontsurface of the drawer 160 when the freezing chamber door 145 iswithdrawn. As a result, the drawer 160 is forwardly withdrawn.

An insertion portion 155 configured to insert the hooking portion 181 ofthe connecting member 170 thereinto may be provided at a lower side ofthe connecting member supporting portion 151. The insertion portion 155may be implemented as a slot configured to insert the hooking portion181 thereinto.

When the connecting member 170 is not used, the hooking portion 181 maybe inserted into the insertion portion 155 by downwardly rotating theconnecting member 170. Accordingly, the connecting member 170 is notprotruding form a rear surface of the freezing chamber door 145, but isfixed into the insertion portion 155 not to be moved. This may preventinterference between the connecting member 170 and the periphery.

Hereinafter, the operation of the connecting member 170 will beexplained with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

When the freezing chamber door 145 and the drawer 160 are to beinterworked with each other, as shown in FIG. 5, the connecting member170 is upwardly rotated to arrange the hooking portion 181 on a rearside of a front surface of the drawer 160. Under this state, once thefreezing chamber door 145 is forwardly pulled to be withdrawn, the frontsurface of the drawer 160 is forwardly pulled by the hooking portion181. Accordingly, the drawer 160 is withdrawn to the front side of thefreezing chamber 140 in a sliding manner. This may allow the drawer 160to be simultaneously forwardly withdrawn when the freezing chamber door145 is opened, without requiring to forwardly withdraw the drawer 160after opening the freezing chamber door 145.

On the contrary, when only the freezing chamber door 145 is to bewithdrawn while the drawer 160 maintains an accommodated state in thefreezing chamber 140, as shown in FIG. 6, the connecting member 170 isupwardly rotated to separate the hooking portion 181 from the drawer160. Then, the connecting member 170 is downwardly rotated to contactthe body 171 to a rear surface of the freezing chamber door 145. Sincethe hooking portion 181 is in an accommodated state in the insertionportion 155, interference of the connecting member 170 with theperiphery may be prevented. Under this state, once the freezing chamberdoor 145 is forwardly pulled to be withdrawn, only the freezing chamberdoor 145 is forwardly withdrawn while the drawer 160 maintains anaccommodated state in the freezing chamber door 140.

Hereinafter, a refrigerator according to another embodiment of thepresent invention will be explained in more detail with reference toFIGS. 7 to 10.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view showing main parts of arefrigerator according to another embodiment of the present invention,FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a region of the connecting member of therefrigerator of FIG. 7, FIG. 9 is a view to explain the operation of aconnecting member of FIG. 7, and FIG. 10 is a view showing a state thata freezing chamber door of FIG. 7 has opened.

The same or similar parts as/to those of the aforementioned embodimentwill be provided with no reference numerals for convenience, andexplanations thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the refrigerator according to anotherembodiment of the present invention comprises: a refrigerator body 110having a refrigerating chamber 130 and a freezing chamber 140partitioned from each other by a partition wall 120; a freezing chamberdoor 145 configured to open and close the freezing chamber 140 byperforming a sliding motion with respect to the refrigerator body 110; adrawer 190 accommodated in the freezing chamber 140 so as to bewithdrawn in a sliding manner; and a connecting member 210 configured toconnect the freezing chamber door 145 and the drawer 190 to each other.

An accommodation portion 147 configured to accommodate food itemstherein may be formed on a rear surface of the freezing chamber door145. The accommodation portion 147 may be formed to have a height lowerthan that of the freezing chamber 140. A drawer 190 may be installedabove the accommodation portion 147 in the freezing chamber 140.

The drawer 190 may include a plurality of horizontal wires 192 disposedin a horizontal direction, and a plurality of vertical wires 194disposed in a vertical direction. The drawer 190 may be formed in anapproximate box shape having an opened upper side.

The connecting member 210 may be provided at the drawer 190.Alternatively, the connecting member 210 may be provided at a frontsurface of the drawer 190. Still alternatively, the connecting member210 may be detachably coupled to the drawer 190.

The connecting member 210 may include a body 211 having one end coupledto the drawer 190, and a hooking portion 221 formed to be bent atanother end of the body 211. A length and a width of the body 211 may beproperly controlled.

At one end of the body 211, may be formed a wire coupling portion 213having one opened side so as to be detachably coupled to the horizontalwires 192 or the vertical wires 194. A sectional surface of the wirecoupling portion 213 may be formed in a circular ring shape having oneopening 214.

The wire coupling portion 213 may be formed of an elastic member (e.g.,synthetic resin member) which is elastically transformed so that theopening 214 can be outwardly widened when coupling the wires to the wirecoupling portion 213 or when detaching the wires from the wire couplingportion 213.

Sizes of the wire coupling portion 213 and the opening 214 may be formedto correspond to diameters of the horizontal wires 192 or the verticalwires 194. In the preferred embodiment, the connecting member 210 iscoupled to the horizontal wires 192 so as to be rotatable in upper andlower directions, the horizontal wires 192 horizontally arranged at anupper part of a front surface of the drawer 190.

A contact portion 230 configured to couple the hooking portion 221 ofthe connecting member 210 thereto, and to maintain the coupled state inback and forth directions may be provided at a rear surface of thefreezing chamber door 145.

The contact portion 230 may be implemented as a hook ring 230 protrudingfrom a rear surface of the freezing chamber door 145. The hook ring 230may be formed in a ‘U’ shape. Alternatively, the contact portion 230 maybe implemented as a recess concavely formed at an upper surface of aprotrusion so that the hooking portion 221 can be inserted thereinto bya predetermined depth from an upper side to a lower side, the protrusionformed at a rear surface of the freezing chamber door 145.

Hereinafter, the operation of the connecting member will be explainedwith reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.

When the drawer 190 is to be interworked with the freezing chamber door145, as shown in FIG. 9, the connecting member 210 is upwardly rotated,thereby coupling the hooking portion 221 of the connecting member 210 tothe contact portion 230 of the freezing chamber door 145. Accordingly,the drawer 190 is interworked with the freezing chamber door 145 to bein a slidable state. Once the freezing chamber door 145 is forwardlypulled, the force applied to the freezing chamber door 145 istransmitted to the drawer 190 by the connecting member 210. Accordingly,the drawer 190 is withdrawn to the front side.

When the interworked state between the drawer 190 and the freezingchamber door 145 is to be released, as shown in FIG. 10, the connectingmember 210 is upwardly rotated, thereby detaching the hooking portion221 of the connecting member 210 from the contact portion 230 of thefreezing chamber door 145.

The detached connecting member 210 is downwardly rotated with respect tothe wires due to its self weight, thereby being in a vertical direction.Under this state, once the freezing chamber door 145 is forwardlypulled, only the freezing chamber door 145 is forwardly withdrawn whilethe drawer 190 is in an accommodated state in the freezing chamber 140.

In the present invention, the freezing chamber door is configured to beslidable, and the drawer is provided in the freezing chamber. However,the refrigerating chamber door may be configured to be slidable, and thedrawer may be provided in the refrigerating chamber.

In the present invention, one drawer is formed in the freezing chamber.However, the drawer may be formed in plurality in number, and theplurality of drawers may be configured to be interworked with thefreezing chamber door by the connecting member.

In the present invention, the accommodation portion of the freezingchamber door, and the drawer are arranged in upper and lower directions.However, the accommodation portion of the freezing chamber door, and thedrawer may be spacing from each other in right and left directions.

In the preferred embodiment with reference to FIGS. 7 to 10, theconnecting member is coupled to the horizontal wires of the drawer.However, the connecting member may be coupled to the vertical wires ofthe drawer.

As aforementioned, in the present invention, since the connecting memberis configured to connect the door and the drawer to each other, thedrawer is withdrawn when the door is withdrawn. This may enhance auser's convenience.

Furthermore, since the door is configured to be selectively interworkedwith the drawer, the door and the drawer are interworked with each otherwhen using the drawer, while the door and the drawer are separatelyoperated from each other when not using the drawer. This may alsoenhance a user's convenience.

The foregoing embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and arenot to be construed as limiting the present disclosure. The presentteachings can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. Thisdescription is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scopeof the claims. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will beapparent to those skilled in the art. The features, structures, methods,and other characteristics of the exemplary embodiments described hereinmay be combined in various ways to obtain additional and/or alternativeexemplary embodiments.

As the present features may be embodied in several forms withoutdeparting from the characteristics thereof, it should also be understoodthat the above-described embodiments are not limited by any of thedetails of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, butrather should be construed broadly within its scope as defined in theappended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fallwithin the metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalents of such metesand bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.

1. A refrigerator, comprising: a refrigerator body having a coolingchamber; a cooling chamber door configured to open and close the coolingchamber by sliding in back and forth directions of the refrigeratorbody; a drawer accommodated in the cooling chamber so as to be slidable;and a connecting member configured to connect the cooling chamber doorand the drawer to each other.
 2. The refrigerator of claim 1, whereinthe connecting member is provided at one of the cooling chamber door andthe drawer.
 3. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein the connectingmember is configured so as to be rotatable.
 4. The refrigerator of claim2, wherein the connecting member comprises: a body; and a hookingportion formed at one end of the body.
 5. The refrigerator of claim 4,wherein the hooking portion is formed to be bent at the end of the body.6. The refrigerator of claim 4, wherein the connecting member isprovided at the cooling chamber door.
 7. The refrigerator of claim 4,wherein an insertion portion configured to insert the hooking portionthereinto is provided at the cooling chamber door.
 8. The refrigeratorof claim 2, wherein the connecting member is provided at the drawer. 9.The refrigerator of claim 8, wherein the connecting member comprises: abody; and a hooking portion formed at an end of the body.
 10. Therefrigerator of claim 9, wherein the hooking portion is formed to bebent at the end of the body.
 11. The refrigerator of claim 9, wherein acontact portion contacting the hooking portion is provided at thecooling chamber door.
 12. The refrigerator of claim 9, wherein the bodyis detachably coupled to the drawer.
 13. The refrigerator of claim 12,wherein the drawer is provided with wires, and the body is provided witha wire coupling portion configured to elastically couple the wiresthereto.
 14. The refrigerator of claim 13, wherein the wire couplingportion is configured to be elastically transformed, and a sectionalsurface thereof is in a circular ring shape having one open side.